Former England cricketer Mike Selvey produce a moving tribute piece for Britain's Guardian newspaper, where he says Crowe opened up to him about his medical struggles in New Zealand during the World Cup last year.

PHOTOSPORT

Former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe also used liquid marijuana to help ease his pain before he died.

Selvey says Crowe told him he was sleeping 15 hours a day and using cannabis oil rather than undergoing more chemotherapy for his second bout of lymphoma.

"He had been diagnosed with follicular lymphoma a couple of years previously but appeared to be in remission, cleared, until the cancer returned, in the virulent terminal form of double-hit lymphoma," Selvey wrote.

"The apparently hale nature of his condition was a camouflage. When he was awake, he said, he did indeed feel good, but rather than undergoing yet more chemotherapy he was by then self-medicating with liquid marijuana and sleeping 15 hours a day. Happy hours though," he said.

CAMERON BURNELL/FAIRFAX NZ

Helen Kelly, who is dying of cancer, continues to source cannabis illegally while she waits for approval from the Ministry of Health.

The spotlight is on medicinal cannabis largely owing to former president of the Council of Trade Unions (CTU) Helen Kelly campaigning for access to the drug.